caus 


The  Indian  school  at 
Carlisle  Barracks 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


DEPARTMENT   OF   THE   INTERIOR, 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION. 


THE  INDIAN  SCHOOL 


CARLISLE  BARRACKS. 


DEPARTMENT  OK  THE  INTERIOR, 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

Washington,  August  9,  1880. 

The  accompanying  report  is  published  for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  educators 
and  school  officials  with  the  interesting  experiment  of  training  Indian  children  in 
the  knowledge  and  usages  of  civilized  life  in  progress  during  the  past  eight  months  at 
Carlisle  Barracks,  Pa. 

The  report  was  prepared  when  the  school  had  not  been  in  existence  four  months, 
yet  its  remarks  have  been  more  than  confirmed  by  subsequent  events.  The  progress 
of  the  pupils  has  been  most  gratifying. 

JOHN  EATON, 

Commissioner 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE, 

1880. 


/"»•?//<' 

C-x- 

THE   INDIAN    SCHOOL  AT   CARLISLE   BARRACKS. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

BURKAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

Washington,  February  24,  1880. 

SIR:  In  compliance  with  your  instructions  to  represent  this  Office  on  the  visit  of  in- 
spection to  the  Indian  training  school  at  Carlisle  Barracks,  Pa.,  on  the  21st  instant,  I 
left  this  city  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  for  Harrisburg.  The  Secretary  of  the  Intetior, 
Mr.  Stickney,  of  the  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners,  and  others  of  the  party  took  the 
same  train. 

Leaving  Harrisburg  the  next  morning,  after  an  early  breakfast,  Carlisle  was  reached 
before  9  o'clock.  We  were  met  by  carriages  from  the  barracks  and  were  at  once  con- 
veyed thither. 

The  barracks  stand  west  of  the  town,  on  a  well  drained  piece  of  land  belonging  to 
the  Government.  A  piece  of  arable  laud  adjoining  this  property  will  be  leased  during 
the  approaching  spring  for  use  as  a  school  farm  and  garden  and  for  the  training  in 
the  care  of  stock. 

The  buildings  occupy  the  sides  of  a  grassy  square  used  for  parade  ground,  &c.  One 
row  is  occupied  by  the  superintendent  and  his  staff",  another  by  the  teachers'  and 
female  pupils' dormitories,  a  third  by  the  boys'  dormitories.  Other  buildings  conven- 
iently placed  are  iised  as  chapel,  school-house,  refectory,  infirmary,  gymnasium,  stable 
and  coach-house,  trade  schools,  &c.  There  is  ample  accommodation  for  double  the 
actual  number  of  pupils. 

Lieutenant  Pratt  has  at  present  under  his  charge  about  110  boys  and  44  girls,  fr  jm 
several  tribes.  It  was  found  impossible  to  obtain  as  many  girls  as  boys,  because  the 
labor  of  the  girls  is  so  useful  under  the  present  ideas  and  soeial  arrangements  of  the 
Indians. 

A  few  of  the  older  pupils  had  received  sonis  instruction  and  training  before  coming 
to  this  school,  e.  g.,  in  Florida  under  Lieutenant  Pratt,  at  Hampton  Normal  School, 
and  iu  the  mission  schools  at  the  tribal  agencies.  More  than  a  hundred  of  them,  hbw- 
ever,  were  last  October  utterly  without  any  civilized  knowledge  or  training  whatever. 
"They  had  never  been  inside  of  a  school  or  a  house,"  said  one  of  the  employe's.  They 
were  brought  to  the  barracks  filthy,  vermin  covered,  and  dressed  in  their  native 
garb.  When  they  were  assigned  to  their  sleeping  quarters  "they  lay  down  on  the 
veranda,  on  their  bellies,  and  glared  out  between  the  palings  of  the  railing  like  wild 
beasts  between  the  bars  of  their  cages."  The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  clean  them 
thoroughly  an:l  to  dress  them  iu  their  now  attire.  Baths  are  compulsory  thrice  a  week. 
The  vermin  have  been  suppressed,  all  the  nnre  easily  because  the  boys  have  allowed 
their  hair  to  be  cut  in  the  fashi-m  of  white  people.  Everything  except  swallowing, 
walking,  and  sleeping  had  to  be  taught ;  the  care  of  person,  clothing,  furniture, 
the  usages  of  the  table,  the  r,v.  ria ;,'••  of  the  b.xly,  civility,  all  those  things  which  white 
chil  Iren  usually  learn  from  their  childhood  by  mere  imitation,  had  to  be  painfully  in- 
culcated and  strenuously  insisted  ou.  In  addition  to  this,  they  were  to  be  taught  the 
ruliments  of  an  English  si-hool  course  airl  tin-  p-.-.-u-tical  use  of  tools. 

Three  ami  a  half  iii'raths  have  pa*>  •  i.  and  th ••  clrrige  is  astonishing.  The  present 
con  lition  of  affairs  can  be  told  best  by  resuming  the  account  of  the  day's  work. 

On  arriving  at  the  barracks  a  programme  of  the  morning's  inspection  was  handed 
to  those  who  wished  to  know  what  was  to  be  dune.  -This,  in  a  few  words,  comprised 

922674 


4  INDIAN    SCHOOL    AT    CARLISLE    BARRACKS. 

an  examination  of  (a)  the  schools,  (6)  the  lodgings,  (c)  the  shops,  (d)  the  table,  (e) 
physical  exercise,  and  (/)  the  infirmary.  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  a  mild,  kind, 
firm,  but  sympathetic  Christian  influence  pervades  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  place 
and  every  part  of  the  management. 

THE   SCHOOLS. 

We  entered  one  room  after  another.  The  first  was  one  in  which  a  number  of  the 
younger  children  were  being  exercised-in  the  use  of  a  vocabulary  aud  in  the  forma- 
tion of  English  sentences.  On  the  teacher's  desk  was  a  large  number  of  small  famil- 
iar objects,  drinking  glasses,  balls,  cups,  &c.  The  children  successively  were  asked 
to  name  an  object ;  the  teacher  phonetized  the  name  into  its  sound  elements  and  the 
children  repeated  it  in  the  same  way.  Then  the  teacher  placed  one  object  on  the  top 
of  another  and  the  child  made  a  sentence  on  the  following  model :  "  The  cup  is  on  the 
book." 

In  another  room  a  class  of  boys  was  reciting  a  lesson  in  geography.  One  boy 
pointed  out  and  named  the  continents,  another  the  countries  in  North  America,  a 
third  the  oceans,  a  fourth  the  seas  of  Europe,  and  so  on. 

In  another  room  a  lesson  in  arithmetic  was  going  on ;  a  model  of  a  fence  afforded 
opportunities  for  questions  in  multiplication,  division,  &c.  This  seemed  to  me  some- 
what less  satisfactory.  A  class  of  larger  boys,  however,  wrote  down,  at  the  dicta- 
tion of  Secretary  Schurz,  a  long  sum  in  addition,  which  was  solved  with  satisfactory 
speed  and  correctness. 

A  number  of  children  in  another  class  were  employed  in  making  sentences,  which 
they  wrote  at  once  on  the  blackboard.  A  child  would  be  told  to  do  something;  then 
another  would  tell  what  had  been  done  and  write  what  he  said.  The  writing  was 
very  fair. 

A  class  in  calisthenics  was  also  seen.  The  scholars  went  through  a  variety  of  mo- 
tions intended  to  develop  the  chest  and  arms,  following  the  example  set  by  one  of  the 
young  ladies  of  the  teaching  corps. 

THE   DORMITORIES, 

We  next  visited  the  quarters  assigned  to  the  pupils.  Each  child  has  a  separate  cot 
bedstead  with  sheets,  blankets,  and  white  counterpane.  The  lavatories  were  sufficient 
and  in  good  order.  The  number  of  beds  in  each  room  on  the  boys'  side  was  eleven  ; 
this  may  be  thought  too  many  for  the  size  of  the  room  (about  20  feet  square  it  seemed 
to  me) ;  but  it  was  explained  that  these  Indians  of  their  own  accord  sleep  with  the 
windows  open  all  night.  Indeed,  as  one  of  the  employe's  remarked,  "  They  would  never 
shut  even  a  door  if  it  depended  on  their  sensations."  Each  room  is  in  charge  of  an 
older  boy,  who  is  squadmaster,  and  responsible  for  the  behavior  of  the  others  and 
for  the  care  of  the  bedding  and  other  furniture. 

THE  SHOPS. 

We  found  some  of  the  girls  learning  how  to  sew,  others  cooking,  others  mending 
clothes.  Some  of  the  boys  were  cobbling  shoes ;  some  were  in  the  carpenter's  shop, 
where  a  piuewood  table  was  being  finished  by  one  pupil,  while  another  was  making 
tongues  and  grooves  on  the  edges  of  boards,  apparently  for  the  top  of  another  table ; 
a  third  was  working  on  table  and  chair  legs.  Two  other  boys  were  at  a  blacksmith's 
forge  working  away  industriously.  Three  of  the  older  boys  had  been  apprenticed  to 
a  wagoumaker  in  Carlisle ;  one  of  these  is  painting  wagons,  another  is  making  or 
putting  together  the  parts  of  wheels  and  other  woodwork;  the  third  devotes  his 
attention  to  the  iron  parts.  I  understood  that  these  young  men  propose  when  they  re- 
turn home  to  pursue  wagoumaking  in  partnership.  The  pupils  are  said  to  learn  the 
use  of  tools  as  readily  as  white  children  do.  There  is  a  master  blacksmith,  master 
carpenter,  and  a  shoemaker  in  the  corps  of  instruction. 


INDIAN    SCHOOL    AT    CARLISLE    BARRACKS. 


At  half  past  twelve  we  went  to  the  refectory,  wliere  the  pupils'  dinner  was  in  prog- 
ress. .  The  bill  of  fare  for  the  day  was  roast  beef,  sweet  ami  Irish  potatoes,  tomatoes, 
and  wheat  bread.  I  tasted  each,  and  found  it  palatably  cooked.  All  except  the  very 
amallest  children  managed  their  own  knives  and  forks,  of  course  with  varying  degrees 
of  skill  and  grace.  I  thought  the  girls  in  general  more  successful  in  this  than  the 
boys.  The  supply  seemed  abundant  and  the  appetites  good.  The  attendance  on  the 
table  was  done  by  a  detail  of  girls. 

PHYSICAL    EXERCISE. 

. 

In  addition  to  the  calisthenics  already  mentioned  and  to  the  drill  (which  the  state 
of  the  weather  did  not  permit),  the  boys  are  supplied  with  a  good  sized  and  sufficiently 
appointed  gymnasium.  I  think  that  an  instructor  in  this  branch  would  prove  of  great 
use  ;  and  that  apparatus  such  as  that  devised  by  McLaren  for  home  gymnastics  should 
be  introduced  into  the  rooms  of  the  female  pupils. 

The  personal  appearance  of  the  pupils  is  generally  satisfactory  ;  there  is  some  cough- 
ing, particularly  among  the  boys,  but  no  more  than  would  be  heard  among  an  equal 
number  of  white  boys.  Whenever  from  admixture  of  blood  the  skin  was  pale  enough 
to  show  the  color  of  the  blood,  the  cheeks  were  more  or  less  rosy.  Most  of  them  are 
straight;  nearly  all  walk  in  the  usual  ungraceful  Indian  fashion  with  no  divergence 
of  the  toes.  The  teeth  of  most  seemed  in  good  condition. 

THE  INFIRMARY. 

There  is  only  one  patient  at  the  present  time.  Those  who  had  not  been  vaccinated 
at  the  agencies  were  vaccinated  on  their  reception.  There  have  been  two  deaths  since 
the  opening  of  the  school;  in  both  cases  the  superintendent  objected  to  the  admission 
of  these  pupils,  but  was  overruled  by  various  considerations. 

ITEMS. 

Secretary  Schurz  addressed  the  pupils  in  the  chapel  before  dinner.  Three  of  the 
older  pupils,  who  for  the  day  wore  their  native  garb,  performed  an  Indian  dance.  This 
•was  most  humorously  varied  by  the  assistance  of  a  little  half-breed  ta>y  who  had  a 
ludicrously  droll  and  acute  face.  This  was  greeted  with  great  laughter,  even  the 
stoical  calm  of  the  Indians  breaking  down  at  the  sight. 

One  of  the  visitors  made  the  following  suggestive  remark,  which  seemed  to  summa- 
rize Lieutenant  Pratt'*  ideas:  "The  design  seems  to  be  to  suppress  or  eradicate  the 
Indian's  instinct  for  destruction  by  substituting  a  love  of  construction  by  means  of  the 
processes  of  instruction." 

I  hope  that  arrangements  will  be  made  by  which  a  sufficient  number  of  girls  can  be 
educated  to  supply  these  young  men  and  boys  with  wives;  this  point,  which  v.-u 
yourself  consider  so  important,  is  rendered  particularly  emphatic  to  me  by  what  my 
father  told  me  of  marriages  between  Christian  men  and  heathen  women  in  Hindustan. 
and  also  by  personal  observations  among  our  southern  freed  people  after  the  late  war. 

After  a  delightful  lunch,  at  which  Mrs.  Pratt  presided  with  great  simplicity  and 
kindness,  we  bade  the  Indian  Training  School  farewell. 

I  reached  this  city  at  9  p.  m.  Saturday,  the  21st  instant,  after  an  abseiu  e  of  twenty 
five  hours. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,     CHARLES  WAKK1,N. 

Chief  CT 
Hon.  JOHN  EATON, 

C<nnini*xioner  of  Education. 

o 


University  of  California  Library 
Los  Angeles 

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TE  SEI 

SEP  2  8  2004 


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THE  LliiilA 
LlaVEliSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


r/on/  : 


PAMPHLET    BINDER 

.  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

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3  1158  00282  14K 


